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SpaceX readies its third Starship rocket test flight: watch the launch here.

After the first two Starship tests went up in flames, SpaceX says it’s now attempting “a number of ambitious objectives” for today’s targeted 9:25AM ET launch, including:

The successful ascent burn of both stages, opening and closing Starship’s payload door, a propellant transfer demonstration during the upper stage’s coast phase, the first ever re-light of a Raptor engine while in space, and a controlled reentry of Starship. It will also fly a new trajectory, with Starship targeted to splashdown in the Indian Ocean.


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Looks like Samsung thinks you’ll put a ring on it.

Rumor has it that Samsung will start mass production on the Galaxy Ring in May to the tune of 400,000 units. Of course, that’s just an estimate and could tweaked down the line. But if true, it hints that Samsung’s feeling confident about its forthcoming smart ring. Like I said, 2024 is really shaping up to be the year of the smart ring.


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The Verge
Proton Mail’s desktop app has officially arrived.

The Windows and macOS apps first launched in beta last December, but now they’re finally here, offering access to Proton’s end-to-end encrypted email service and calendar. A Linux version of the app is now available in beta as well.


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SpaceX’s projected Starship launch time keeps moving.

If SpaceX attempts another Starship launch this morning, it now says the launch could happen about an hour and a half into the planned 110-minute launch window that started at 8AM ET.

An update from SpaceX said it is “go for propellant load,” and the launch is targeting 9:25AM ET. An official livestream has not started yet, but the folks at Spaceflight Now are broadcasting live with cameras set up near the Boca Chica, TX, launch site.

Update March 14th, 8:26AM ET: Updated launch timing (again) from SpaceX.


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Now AliExpress is on the EU’s naughty list.

The European Commission says it’s opened formal proceedings against AliExpress because it may have breached the Digital Services Act’s rules. For example, the Commission says AliExpress may not be enforcing its terms of service properly, and is allowing the sale of “certain products posing risks for consumers’ health (such as fake medicines and food as well as dietary supplements).” Similar investigations have already been opened into TikTok and X.


How Nintendo’s destruction of Yuzu is rocking the emulator world

Nintendo sued Yuzu into the ground. What happened next?

The Xiaomi 14 Ultra photography kit is a beaut.

I’m busy testing the Xiaomi 14 Ultra’s camera but please take a minute to appreciate this gorgeous photography accessory kit. It updates last year’s version with a beefier battery that can power the phone. Just feast your eyes on that gorgeous two-stage shutter button!

One thing I’m noticing so far? It’s heavier than the previous version. That’s not so hot.


Xiaomi 14 Ultra with photography kit.

1/5

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Microlino electric bubble car review: urban delight

Fun, fun, fun till a trailer towed my baby away.

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TikTok
“I’m an old man. Get me that Lenovo.”

If we’re going to start banning software, let’s start banning software.


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“I bet Valve made more profit from most of the next 1000 than the developer themselves made.”

If you guessed Epic CEO Tim Sweeney, you’re right — and he said it to Valve’s face, later telling Gabe Newell he was among the “assholes telling the world that the strong and powerful get special terms, while 30% is for the little people.”

It’s from a cache of mostly redacted exhibits in a potential class-action lawsuit against Valve. Simon Carless dug them up, read more:


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TikTok
TikTok CEO tells users to “make their voices heard” against a bill that could ban the app in the US.

Now that the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act has passed in the House of Representatives, TikTok CEO Shou Chew made — what else — a short video appealing to the app’s users to speak up against a ban.

He doesn’t address the possibility of a sale, saying the bill will take away their app if it becomes a law, but that “We believe we can overcome this together.”


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Instagram
Rivian’s smaller R3 and R3X electric SUVs look great, but they’re not ready to ship.

Automotive journalist Jason Cammisa got inside Rivian’s “one more thing” surprise vehicles, posting some short clips to show off the hot hatch styling and massive wheels of the R3X, as well as the dual-opening rear setup.

A lack of backseat legroom isn’t that surprising. But the potential bad news is that Cammisa says, “I wouldn’t expect to see the first ones until 2027.”


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Firefox saw an increase in users following Apple’s default browser changes in the EU.

Firefox spokesperson Christopher Hilton tells The Verge that the browser has seen a more than 50 percent jump in users in Germany and a nearly 30 percent increase in France:

Despite less than ideal compliance, the recent implementation of the DMA choice screen is a promising step toward true competition online in the EU... Still, there is a lot of room for improvement, and we’ll continue to fight for a web that puts people over profits, prioritizes privacy and is open and accessible to all.

Brave saw a similar increase in users after Apple started letting users choose their default browsers on iOS 17.4 in the EU last week.


Why the Kate Middleton scandal just won’t die

How a bad Photoshop job turned into an existential crisis for the British monarchy.

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Twitter
Copilot upgrade.

Windows Central points out that a switch to GPT-4 Turbo on the free tier of Microsoft’s AI assistant means searches on Copilot will be more current, and answers can be more thought out. GPT-4 Turbo was trained on data until April 2023 and can understand more complex questions.

However, for those who prefer the older model, Pro accounts can toggle between GPT-4 Turbo and GPT-4.


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The Verge
If Congress wants to ban TikTok it should probably show us the evidence of Chinese interference.

We’ve heard so much about the dangers of TikTok from both sides of the aisle, and even had Trump flip-flop his position ostensibly over the political calculations of banning an app 170 million Americans use. But what exactly did the House select committee see in its secure briefing that led them to vote 50-0 in favor of the bill that would ban the app? If this thing is going to move forward in the Senate it seems like we should at least know the basics.


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Youtube
The cast of X-Men ‘97 want you to feel the hype.

It’s kind of telling how X-Men ‘97’s creator / showrunner Beau DeMayo isn’t featured in this new sizzle reel hyping up the show before its March 20th premiere, but the cast seems pretty excited to be back voicing their iconic roles.


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Instagram
Nancy Pelosi is playing TikTok-toe.

The former House Speaker said passing a new bill that incentivizes China-based ByteDance to sell TikTok “is not an attempt to ban TikTok. It’s an attempt to make TikTok better. Tic-tac-toe. A winner.”

After the bill passed out of the House with 352 votes, it now must clear the Senate to reach the president’s desk.


Pinterest launched an AI tool that lets users filter search results by body type.

The filter starts with “a visual cue to select between four body type ranges.” It’s only available in the U.S. for women’s fashion and wedding-related items, but it will expand to men’s fashions later this year.

Pinterest says this will make its site a more “inclusive” place, but with 16 choices, it’s hard to represent every body type, even with the power of AI, and a prompt to save your selection didn’t appear in our tests.


Pinterest’s new body range tool shows row rows of different body types
Image: Pinterest
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Apple made the Vision Pro blurry... on purpose?!

I’m not the one making this very big claim. That’d be Hugo Barra, former VP of Android and head of Oculus. Go check out his in-depth blog about his Vision Pro experience. It’s a great read overall, but this bit stood out:

Intentionally making the Vision Pro optics blurry is a clever move by Apple because it results in way smoother graphics across the board by hiding the screen door effect (which in practice means that you won’t see pixelation artifacts).

I’ve been hopping between both headsets and... I see what he’s saying!


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YouTube Music may be laying the groundwork for a “trim silence” podcast feature.

It appears Google is further optimizing YouTube Music for podcasts as it prepares to sunset Google Podcasts at the end of this month.

9to5Google reports spotting a line of code that indicates it is building out a “trim silence feature,” which is standard on Google Podcasts and other podcast listening apps. It automatically skips long stretches of silence that appear in an episode, saving the listener a bit of time.


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The child influencers making other people rich.

Kids are big business for brands looking to partner with influencers — and yet, Illinois is the only state in the US where kids appearing in sponcon are entitled to a cut of earnings.

This Cosmopolitan piece illustrates the longterm psychological effects of being a child working on online content. It also shows that our legal system has a lot of catching up to do with influencer culture.


Microsoft Paint is getting better pencil, brushes, and eraser sizes.

Microsoft is bringing a new size slider to its pencil, brushes, and eraser tools in Paint. This will let you pick a custom size, much like you’d find in more advanced image editing tools like Photoshop. These new options are in testing today, alongside some improvements to the new layers feature inside Microsoft Paint. Microsoft has been on a roll lately, updating Paint with layers, AI features, and much more.


The new Paint brush sizes.
The new Paint brush sizes.
Image: Microsoft
The “new” Threads desktop app is available for Windows PCs.

Yes, Windows users can get the Threads app Mark Zuckerberg is showing here from the Microsoft Store

But once it’s installed, you’ll get the same desktop web app experience (loaded in Microsoft’s Edge web browser) that we’ve had access to since August.


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Please don’t pet the toxic cat.

Residents of Fukuyama City are looking for a cat that fell into a vat of toxic chemicals at a metal plating factory. After reviewing security footage, officials believe it fell in the tank containing hexavalent chromium on Sunday night, crawled out, and ran off.

Locals are keeping an eye out but are urged not to touch the potentially highly toxic cat. Personally, I’m rooting for the cat’s eventual rise as the greatest supervillain the world has ever seen.


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Twitter
Waymo opens up in LA.

The robotaxi company is ready to start inviting regular people on its waitlist (50,000 and counting) to use its fully driverless vehicles. The vehicles will only operate in a 63 square-mile section that includes Santa Monica and DTLA. And while the initial rides will be free, future rides will not — thanks to a recent thumbs-up from regulators.

The company plans to follow similar rollout in Austin, Texas, “later this year.” The future of autonomous vehicles still seems super cloudy, but Waymo is trying its best to prove the doubters wrong.